Rotary abrasive blasting machine

ABSTRACT

This disclosure relates to abrading small articles to remove molding or casting flash and to improve the surface for painting, plating and the like. The abrading machine has a drum formed of open mesh material and mounted for rotation about its longitudinal axis. Means are disclosed for feeding the small articles to an abrading area within the drum and for removing the abraded articles from the abrading area. An abrasive medium supply means is provided within the drum and mounted for reciprocatory motion within the abrading area to evenly abrade the articles continuously moved throughout the abrading area by the rotary motion of the drum. The abrasive medium supply means is also mounted for rotational movement about an axis parallel with the rotational axis of the drum. A helical rib is formed in the drum for feeding the articles to the abrading area during the abrading process. The helical rib is also employed to feed the articles to a discharge opening at one end of the abrading drum after the abrading process.

Waite Sttes atent Wallace L. Reed; James L. Reed; Charles T. Redden; Carl 11. Castle, all of Grand Rapids, Mich.

[72] Inventors [21] App]. No. 829,192

[22] Filed June 2; 1969 [45] Patented Sept. 7, 1971 [73] Assignee W. L. Reed Company Grand Rapids, Mich.

[54] ROTARY ABRASlVE BLASTING MACHINE 22,539 10/1898 Great Britain 51/13 Primary Examiner-Lester M. Swingle Attorney-Price, Heneveld, Huizenga & Cooper ABSTRACT: This disclosure relates to abrading small articles to remove molding or casting flash and to improve the surface for painting, plating and the like. The abrading machine has a drum formed of open mesh material and mounted for rotation about its longitudinal axis. Means are disclosed for feeding the small articles to an abrading area within the drum and for removing the abraded articles from the abrading area. An abrasive medium supply means is provided within the drum and mounted for reciprocatory motion within the abrading area to evenly abrade the articles continuously moved throughout the abrading area by the rotary motion of the drum. The abrasive medium supply means is also mounted for rotational movement about an axis parallel with the rotational axis of the drum. A helical rib is formed in the drum for feed ing the articles to the abrading area during the abrading process. The helical rib is also employed to feed the articles to a discharge opening at one end of the abrading drum after the abrading process.

PATENTED SEP 7 I971 SHEET 3 [IF 3 I NVENTORS ROTARY ABRASIVE BLASTING MACHINE BACKGROUND This invention relates to abrading, and to the quantity abrading of a large number of parts simultaneously, in bulk treatment, with each part receiving uniform abrading treatment, for example to remove molding flash and condition the surface for finishing.

In one of its aspects, the invention relates to an abrading machine having a rotary drum for continuously tumbling and agitating articles to be abraded, and a reciprocating particulate abrasive medium supply head means to evenly abrade all of the articles within the rotary drum.

In another of its aspects, the invention relates to an abrading machine having a rotary drum for tumbling articles while they are abraded and including a helical rib means for loading and unloading the articles.

In another of its aspects, the invention relates to an abrading machine having a rotary drum for tumbling articles to be abraded and having a particulate medium supply means which is adjustably and rotatably mounted relative to the drum for directing particulate material along the bottom and sides of the drum for articles which tend to ride upon the drum as its rotates.

It is conventional to abrade a number of small articles in a rotating drum by placing loose abrasive media within the drum and tumbling the articles and the media together, during which the media and articles make mechanical contact and the articles undergo surface abrasion. Heretofore, problems have been encountered in obtaining uniformity of treatment on the articles within the drum, and the process is an extremely lengthy one. Further, the articles were required to be loaded and unloaded manually.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION By various aspects of this invention one or more of the following, as well as other, objects can be obtained.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved tumbling-type abrading machine wherein a plurality of articles are very uniformly abraded with a particulate abrasive material in a very short length of time.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved abrading machine for simultaneously abrading a plurality of articles wherein the articles are fed automatically into and out of the machine.

It is still a further object of this invention to provide a versatile machine for simultaneously abrading a plurality of articles within a rotating drum, regardless of the behavior of the articles within the drum.

It is yet another object of this invention to provide an improved apparatus for producing spherical articles which have been molded and include a molding flash wherein the flash is removed and the article is prepared for painting in a single step.

Other aspects, objects, and the several advantages of this invention are apparent to one skilled in the art from a study of this disclosure, the drawings, and the appended claims.

According to the invention, there is provided an apparatus for the production of spherical articles such as golf balls wherein the article covers are molded around a central core, thereby producing a ball with a circumferential seam on the cover. The surface of the cover is contacted with a particulate abrasive material under pressure until the seam is removed by abrasive material. The cover is then painted.

In accordance with another embodiment of the invention there is provided an apparatus for abrading articles with a particulate abrasive material under pressure. The apparatus includes a drum formed of open mesh material and mounted for rotation about the longitudinal axis of the drum. Means are provided for rotating the drum around the longitudinal axis thereof. Means are provided for feeding the articles to an abrading area within the drum and for removing the treated articles from the abrading area. An abrasive medium supply means is provided for supplying the abrasive material under pressure to the abrading area, the abrading medium supply means being mounted for axial reciprocatory motion within the abrading area to evenly abrade the articles distributed throughout the abrading area.

In one embodiment, the feeding means comprise a helical rib fixed to the inner portion of the drum and adapted to move the articles away from one end of the drum when the drum is rotated about the axis in a first direction, and adapted to move the articles to a discharge port in the drum at the first end of the drum when the drum is rotated about the axis in a second angular direction.

In another embodiment, the abrasion medium supply means is mounted for rotational adjustment about an axis directed longitudinally of the drum for directing the abrasionmedium at articles which tend to ride up on the sides of the drum as it rotates about the longitudinal axis. Means are provided for fixing the supply means in a plurality of rotationally adjusted positions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an abrading machine illustrating an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view partly in section of the abrading machine illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG, 3 is a side elevational view ofa drum used in the abrading machine and shown in part in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the abrasion material supply means;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along lines 5-5 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along lines 6-6 of FIG. 2.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF INVENTION Referring now to the drawings, and to FIG. 11 in particular, there is shown an abrading machine having an outer casing 12 supported by a plurality of legs 20. The abrading machine has a feed hopper 14, a door 116, and a discharge chute 18.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 through 6, the invention will be further described. Articles 10 such as golf balls or small diecast or other metal parts pass from the feed hopper 14 through a delivery chute 22 having a gate 24 into a perforate container 26. Forming the container 26 are a cylindrical drum 28 of rigid expanded metal or other such mesh, a front wall 30 having an inlet cone 32 welded thereto, an opening 33 in the drum wall and a door 34 secured in the opening 33. An opening 36 is also provided in the mesh drum 28 adjacent the front wall 30. Backwall 38, having an annular seal 39, is fixed to the other end of the drum 28. Annular rails 40 and 42 surround the rigid drum 28 and are fixed thereto. The drum is supported and driven rotatably through a pair of laterally spaced drive shafts 48 having front wheels 44 and back wheels 46 which engage respectively rails 40 and 42. The drive shafts 48 are journaled in the front and backwalls of the casing 12. One of the drive shafts 48 is driven by the reversing motor 50.

A helical conveyor blade 52 is fixed within the cylindrical mesh drum 28 for conveying the articles into an abrading area of the drum 28. A discharge helical blade 54 has a smaller pitch than the blade 52 and is mounted to drum 28 and to inlet cone 32 between the ends of the inlet cone 32. In other words, the discharge helical blade 52 extends radially between the wall of mesh drum 2% and the outer wall of discharge cone 32.

An abrasive media manifold assembly 56 is mounted for axial reciprocation within cylindrical mesh drum 28. The manifold assembly comprises a support tube 58 which carries spray heads or nozzles 60, 62, 64, 66, 68 and 70 and supply tubes or pipes 74, 76, 82, 86, and 9 Abrasive media is supplied to nozzle of) through pipe 74 and a hose 72, to nozzle 62 through pipe 78 and a hose 76, to nozzle 64 through a pipe 82 and hose 80. Likewise, spray heads or nozzles 66, 68 and 70 have abrasive media supplied respectively through hose 84 and pipe 86, hose 88 and pipe 90, and hose 92 and pipe 94. Each of the pipes 74, 78, 82, 86, 90, and 94 are welded to the sides of support tube 58. The pipes 74 and 78 are welded to an angle support member 124 which engages a support plate 100 through bolts 122 (FIG. 6). The manifold assembly 56 slides through a cover plate 128 which is fixed to the backwall of casing 12 by bolts 130 and 134. The cover plate has an arcuate opening 132 in which bolt 134 is positioned. The center of curvature of the arcuate slot 132 is at the center of bolt 130. Thus, the cover plate 128 is rotatable about the bolt 130. The end wall of casing 12 has a kidney-shaped opening 126 to permit the rotation of the abrading manifold 56 and cover plate 128, about bolt 130.

The plate 100 has holes 1 18 which slideably retain a pair of rails 112. Tabs 114 fixed to support flanges 116 support the rails 112. The plate 100 has an arcuate slot 120, whose center of curvature is also at bolt 130. The bolts 122 are positioned within the arcuate slots 120 and are adjustably slideable therein.

Support plates 96 are fixed to the plate 100 and extend rearwardly thereof. A plate 98 is fixed at the end of the plate 96 and engages a piston rod 104 of a hydraulic cylinder 102. Stop means can be provided behind plate 98 to limit the rearward movement of the manifold assembly 56.

A hopper 106 forms the bottom of the casing 12 and communicates with the underside of the cylindrical mesh drum 28 to collect the abrasive medium dispensed by the spray heads 62 through 70. The hopper opens into a return duct 108 which, through suitable means (not shown), draws the abrasive medium back to a pressure source for recirculation. A stand pipe 110 extends upwardly from the front end of the return duct 108 to aid in the removal of the abrasive medium. The abrasive medium is supplied under pressure from a conventional generator (not shown) to pipes 74, 78, 82, 90, and 94.

The motor 50 can be programmed by a timer and sequencer device (not shown) to terminate the rotation of the drum 26 in one direction after a predetermined time and to reverse the direction of its rotation to automatically-discharge the articles within the container.

In operation, the small parts or articles to be treated are fed into the hopper l4 and released by a gate 24, passing through inlet cone 32 into the interior of the cylindrical mesh drum 28. The discharge helical blade 54 has at least one 360 revolution about the inlet cone 32 to prevent the golf balls from accidentally passing to the front end of the machine and out of discharge hole 36. The drum is rotated in a counterclockwise direction as viewed from the front or hopper end of the machine. This rotational movement agitates and tumbles the articles within the drum and, by means of the blade 52, conveys the articles into the back end or abrading end of the machine, where they are continuously tumbled. The spray heads 60 through 70 dispense an abrasive medium under pressure onto the articles being tumbled within the cylindrical mesh drum 28. During this operation, the hydraulic cylinder 102 actuates piston rod 104 to reciprocate the abrading assembly or manifold 56 axially (as illustrated in phantom lines in FIG. 2) to evenly spray the abrasive medium within the abrading area, over the tumbling parts.

After a predetermined time. the supply of the abrading material is interrupted, and the motor 50 is reversed to rotate the mesh container 26 in an opposite direction, i.e., clockwise. as viewed from the front or hopper end of the machine. The articles 10 will then be conveyed by the helical blade 52 and the discharge helical blade 54 towards the front end of the machine. where they will fall out of the drum 28 through hole 36 when the hole is at the bottom of the machine. The ar ticles 10 will then exit through chute 18.

Some articles tend to ride up on the side of the cylindrical drum 28 as the same rotates during the abrading process. For this purpose, the abrading assembly or manifold 56 is mounted for rotational movement about bolt 130. The abrading machine can therefore be adjusted so that the spray heads are directed at the lower sides of the drum 23 rather than directly downwardly. In order to efiect the adjustment, bolts 122 and bolt 134 are loosened. The abrading assembly 56 is then rotated so that the plate 128 rotates about bolt 130 and so that the angle support member 124 also rotates with bolts 122 sliding in slots 120. In the desired position, the bolts 122 and the bolt 134 are then. tightened to secure the abrading assembly in the adjusted rotational position.

Golf balls are a specific example of an article which can be abrasively treated by use of the machine illustrated in the drawings, although the treatment of such articles in this general manner is novel and unusual in and of itself. When manufactured, golf balls, have a circumferential molding flash, most of which is normally ground or buffed off by a hand labor operation. The machine of the present invention can be used to remove at least part of the molding flash, and/or vestigial marks left by the aforementioned hand-grinding operation, and to prepare the golf ball surface for painting at the same time. Both operations are performed simultaneously, and in a very short length of time on a large number of balls. Surface preparation of the golf balls in this manner provides for greatly improved paint adhesion characteristics relative to any other method presently practiced, even through the time involved in preparation is only a mere fraction of that required by other operations now in use. In the case of golf balls, the abrasive medium is preferably crushed glass particles. Other suitable mediums such as glass beads or shot, sand, aluminum oxide and the like can be used for different articles, depending on the nature of the article and the nature of the treatment to be imparted thereto.

Reasonable variation and modification are possible within the scope of the foregoing disclosure, the drawings, and the appended claims without departing from the spirit of the invention.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows.

1. An apparatus for impacting articles with a particulate abrasive medium under pressure, said apparatus comprising: a drum formed of perforate material, and mounted for rotary movement; means for rotatably driving said drum; means for admitting said articles into said drum, such that the articles are tumbled therewithin when the drum is moved; means for moving said articles generally longitudinally of said drum and toward a firstend thereof as the articles are tumbled therewithirl; abrasive medium supply means for spraying said abrasive material under pressure against the tumbling articles within the drum; and means for removing treated articles from said drum comprising means defining an aperture near a second end of said drum, generally opposite from said first end thereof, and means for moving said articles toward and to said aperture.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said means for admitting said articles includes a chutelike delivery member extending into one end of said drum, the inner end portion of said delivery member being spaced inwardly from said one drum end.

3. An apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said delivery member extends into said second end of said drum, and ineluding a helical rib fixed inside said drum and adapted to move said articles away from said second end of said drum and inwardly thereof when said drum is rotated about its longitudinal axis in a first angular direction.

4. An apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said delivery member inner end is spaced inwardly of said drum from said aperture, such that rotation of'said drum about said axis in a second direction moves said articles to said aperture.

5. An apparatus according to claim 4, including a helical rib fixed inside said drum, with a portion of said helical rib separating said delivery member inner end and said aperture.

6. An apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said helical rib portion comprises at least one 360 rotation of said helical rib about said delivery member, and said helical rib portion is fixed to said delivery member. 

1. An apparatus for impacting articles with a particulate abrasive medium under pressure, said apparatus comprising: a drum formed of perforate material, and mounted for rotary movement; means For rotatably driving said drum; means for admitting said articles into said drum, such that the articles are tumbled therewithin when the drum is moved; means for moving said articles generally longitudinally of said drum and toward a first end thereof as the articles are tumbled therewithin; abrasive medium supply means for spraying said abrasive material under pressure against the tumbling articles within the drum; and means for removing treated articles from said drum comprising means defining an aperture near a second end of said drum, generally opposite from said first end thereof, and means for moving said articles toward and to said aperture.
 2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said means for admitting said articles includes a chutelike delivery member extending into one end of said drum, the inner end portion of said delivery member being spaced inwardly from said one drum end.
 3. An apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said delivery member extends into said second end of said drum, and including a helical rib fixed inside said drum and adapted to move said articles away from said second end of said drum and inwardly thereof when said drum is rotated about its longitudinal axis in a first angular direction.
 4. An apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said delivery member inner end is spaced inwardly of said drum from said aperture, such that rotation of said drum about said axis in a second direction moves said articles to said aperture.
 5. An apparatus according to claim 4, including a helical rib fixed inside said drum, with a portion of said helical rib separating said delivery member inner end and said aperture.
 6. An apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said helical rib portion comprises at least one 360* rotation of said helical rib about said delivery member, and said helical rib portion is fixed to said delivery member. 